This one’s for the earth

The Nyepi holiday this year comes tomorrow, only about a week before Earth Hour on March 31. But actually the idea of having a moment of silence came thousands of years ago… knowing this year’s Nyepi is on 1934^th year of Çaka, the Balinese (and Hindu Indian) calendar.

While there have been controversies around the impact of Earth Hour towards global warming and energy saving—some said the impact is as little as 1.5% less electricity, others claimed otherwise, and some others turn off lights but light up candles, replacing one emission to another instead of reducing—the benefit of having a whole day off makes more sense.

It’s even a total silence, not just turning off the lights like the Earth Hour. So during Nyepi, people in Bali (and surely Hindu Balinese people all around the globe as well) turn off any lights, don’t make any sounds, and spends the day not going out of the house. Guests at hotels are encouraged to stay at the hotel since the beaches and streets will be empty, and the airport will have a day-off… so it also makes a pollution-free day, which is scientifically more relevant in reducing global warming since the warming comes from the carbon dioxide emission rather than just heat from electricity. After all, electricity was probably meant to be a more environment-friendly energy source than fossil fuels, that’s why automotive industry develop hybrid and fully-electric cars for the future.

Psychologically, people are made free from dependency to things, not just to lights, and the earth is made free from many human treatments (and mistreatments). A day when humans and the earth restore the respect of each other, and all wounds in between are healed. A day of hope… that this relationship between humans and the earth can still go on, symbiotically. The earth provides and humans labor for the benefits of both, not just for themselves.

Without being disrespectful to the effort of creating awareness and the nice images the Earth Hour movement has made, the true baby little step we can make to reduce global warming is to really start a green lifestyle… even with literally eating more green. Yes, vegetables and animal-free protein. We don’t all have to be vegan, but reducing won’t hurt, and it’s not that difficult. We can start by joining Paul McCartney’s cause, Meat-Free Monday, for example.

There are quite plenty other options we can take, like in this 40 Green Tips book I found at Aksara Bookstore in Jakarta, written by Gouri Mirpouri. Buying local food instead of imports is one of them, and I suppose it goes the same with other goods like clothes, which if comes in great scale will increase fossil fuel emissions from ships and airplanes significantly.

I suppose traveling around the globe—which is considered as a healthy lifestyle due to its stress-relieving benefit—is in danger to become an unhealthy one if done too often, since travelers will increase the number of flights, which won’t increase without the rise of demands.

In the end it will lead us to one line… which is to reduce (or control) the way we consume things. It’s in our animal instinct to consume, predate and take things for granted, especially having been able to afford, and having been comfortable to certain behaviors and facilities to find it difficult to change. But it’s also in our animal instinct to play a part in the ecosystem. And while other animals are eaten and dead before being useful for the ecosystem, we humans can be useful when alive… by doing something for the earth.

(I guess I’ll start with green journalism and green advertising.)

Jakarta, Bali and Bandung

If you take a closer look at the main streets properties in Jakarta and Bali, despite the beauties of the establishments you will eventually feel bitter to know that most of them are now not owned by the locals. Even if some of them are still owned by locals, most newcomers have rented it for very long term and turned it into something that no longer belongs to the locals. Business-wise it’s their right for they have paid the rent, they can do whatever they want with it, but wouldn’t it be tragic if for the price of the rent the landowners couldn’t even enjoy (as common people or consumer) what is being built on his land?

It’s even more tragic if the locals no longer own it, then they are completely thrown out from their habitat.

Like a Balinese I met a few weeks ago, who still splits his times between Denpasar and Jakarta, but actually no longer enjoys his stay in his hometown if it’s not because of his kids and grandkids. Denpasar, like most Southern Bali, is one of the most ‘invaded’ area in Bali, not only by people from other countries but also domestic invaders like Jakartans and Surabayans… leaving only the central and north which can still be called authentic Bali.

In Jakarta, most Batavians have also retreated to the suburb areas. The only central areas that are still inhabited by locals are probably Kota (Chinatown), Pasar Baru (Little India), and some old market areas and middle-low neighborhood around Tanah Abang. The elite neighborhood is now dominated by the highly-ranked military officers, politicians and business people who are related to the New Order regime (1966-1998). The main business districts are dominated by the similar guys, along with their foreign companions. And the other business districts are dominated by the Chinese Indonesian developers, who despite Jakartans or not have no heart by building such a city-architectural mess like properties around Grogol, Pluit and Kelapa Gading. Never mind the roads and drainage system.

I don’t know much about properties in Bandung, but what I know is they have been ‘invaded’ in terms of traffic… almost every weekend and high season Bandung streets will be congested by B-plated cars from Jakarta. I am sure the similar thing would happen in cafés and restaurants, where locals now would have to deal with long queues and jammed parking areas. This kind of congestion, on holidays when you want to relax in your hometown, is something surely the locals won’t fancy.

6-year-old gadgets

2005 was the year where I spent most of my little savings on gadgets. I bought my first Apple, a white 12″ iBook G4 in February, a Nokia 6020 in May, and my first digital camera—a pocket Sony Cybershot DSC-T9—in December. They cost me around IDR 18 million combined. Thanks to China, the gadgets prices remain there though the value of our rupiah never came back (due to several inflations in late 2005, 2007 and 2009).

But it was a spending I’m kind of proud of… knowing that all those 3 gadgets are still alive and used until today, except the camera that was mostly parked after I bought my current Lumix six months ago. I’m personally impressed by the durability of the iBook, having previously at my college years had to twice replace my computer’s hard drive in 3.5 years—and God knows how many computer junks will cover the earth if we trash a hard drive every year.

It also convinces me more to keep investing my computer needs on Apple, though I am still yet to find my own reason to buy either an iPod, an iPhone or an iPad. With my interest in photography and compactness I may someday buy the phone, which has a good camera quality as I have seen in my sister’s, another Apple fan in our family.